I cannot tell their wonder nor make known Magic that once thrilled through me to the bone, But all men praise some beauty, tell some tale, Vent a high mood which makes the rest seem pale, Pour their heart’s blood to flourish one green leaf, Follow some Helen for her gift of grief, And fail in what they mean, whate’er they do: You should have seen, man cannot tell to you The beauty of the ships of that my city. That beauty now is spoiled by the sea’s pity: For one may haunt the pier a score of times Hearing St. Nicholas’ bells ring out the chimes, Yet never see those proud ones swaying home, With mainyards backed and bows a cream of foam, Those bows so lovely-curving, cut so fine Those coulters of the many-bubbled brine, As once, long since, when all the docks were filled With that sea beauty man has ceased to build. Yet though their splendour may have ceased to be, Each played her sovereign part in making me. Now I return my thanks with heart and lips For the great queenliness of all those ships. And first the first bright memory, still so clear, An autumn evening in a golden year, When in the last lit moments before dark The _Chepica_, a steel-gray lovely barque, Her trucks aloft in sun-glow red as blood, Came to an anchor near us on the flood. Then come so many ships that I could fill Three docks with their fair hulls remembered still, Each with her special memory’s special grace, Riding the sea, making the waves give place To delicate high beauty; man’s best strength Noble in every line in all their length. _Ailsa_, _Genista_, ships, with long jib-booms, The _Wanderer_ with great beauty and strange dooms, _Liverpool_ (mightiest then) superb, sublime, The _California_ huge, as slow as Time. The _Cutty Sark_, the perfect _J. T. North_, The loveliest barque my city has sent forth. Dainty _Redgauntlet_, well remembered yet, The splendid _Argus_ with her skysail set, Stalwart _Drumcliff_, white-blocked majestic _Sierras_, Divine bright ships, the water’s standard bearers. _Melpomene_, _Euphrosyne_, and their sweet Sea-troubling sisters of the Fernie Fleet. _Corunna_ (in whom my friend died) and the old Long since loved _Esmeralda_ long since sold. _Centurion_ passed in Rio, _Glaucus_ spoken, _Aladdin_ burnt, the _Bidston_ water broken, _Yola_ in whom my friend sailed, _Dawpool_ trim, Fierce-bowed _Egeria_ plunging to the swim, _Stanmore_ wide-sterned, sweet _Cupica_, tall _Bard_ Queen in all harbours with her moonsail yard.